Car-truck.



No. 696,627. Patented Apr. I, M902.

E. A. CURTIS.

CAR TRUCK.

. (Application filed June 5, 1901. (No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet l.

No. 696,627. Patented A I, new.

E. A. CURTIS.

GAB TRUCK.

(Application filed June 5, 1901.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

THE Npnms PETERS 00.. maraumm'wnsnmorum n. c.

No.'696,627. Patented Apr. l, I902. E. A. CURTIS.

CAR TRUCK.

(Application filed June 5. 1901.)

(No Model.)

nine

rates EDMUND A. CURTIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CAR-TRUCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 696,627, dated April 1, 1902.

Application filed June 5, 1901. Serial No. 63,248. (No model.)

To all whom, it nuty concern.-

Be it known that I, EDMUND A, CURTIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oar-Trucks,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in car-trucks, being more particularly applicable to street-cars--such as cable, electric, pneumatic, horse-cars, and the like; and the primary object of my invention is to produce an improved truck for cars of this type which shall be less liable to disarrangement and breakage than trucks now in use under the stress and strain of hard service on rough tracks and which shall also afford a greater vertical ease by more thoroughly and effectively absorbing within the elements of the truck-frame itself the blows and shocks incident to the pounding of the wheels on irregularities of the track or arising from imperfections of the road-bed, such as poor or insufficient ballast or the like.

To this general object the improvements constituting the subject-matter of my present invention reside principally in the following features: first, a special construction and formation of the equalizer-bars whereby in the process of casting the same equal and uniform strength is secured throughout all parts thereof and Weak spots are avoided; second, a novel arrangement and manner of mounting the equalizer-springs between the journal-boxes and equalizer-bars, and, third, a novel form of journal-box and cooperating pedestal.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a plauview of one side of a truck-frame with certain old and usual parts removed for the sake of greater clearness.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational View of the parts shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrow, illustrating the manner of supporting the pedestal on thejournal-box. Fig. dis an isolated detail in side elevation of the wheelpiece; and Figs. and 6 are isolated details in side elevation and top plan, respectively, of the equalizer-bar, clearly illustrating the formation thereof and the integral construction of the pedestals therein.

In the accompanying drawings I have purposely omitted many of the old and usual parts of a car-truck and illustrated only those elements thereof in which my invention is embodied or with which it is directly connected.

Referring first to the several elements of the truck as shown, A indicates as an entirety the vertical equalizers having cast integrally therewith the two pedestals B.

C designates the wheel-piece, resting at its ends in and bolted to the tops of the pedestals B.

' D designates the journal-boxes, which have a vertical play within the pedestals B, such play being permitted by the intervention of a series of springs E, interposed between the journal-boxes and the upper portions of the pedestals B.

Referring now more particularly to the construction and mode of forming the equalizerbars, I would note at the outset that a very common inherent fault with these elements of a truck has been the presence of weak spots at some vital point therein at which under an unusual jar or shock the bar would crack or break. This fault has arisen in the process of casting the bar and is easily explainable in view of the fact that the bar being cast of more or less varying thickness throughout different parts thereof in the cooling of the metal subsequent to casting the thicker portions would draw away from the thinner portions, thus producing an unintentional irregularity in the distribution of the metal and making the thinner parts of the bar fall below the estimated and intended strength. My invention, so far as it relates to the par.- ticular construction of the equalizer-bar, is intended to effectively remedy this fault, and to this end the chief distinguishing characteristic of my equalizer-bar resides in the fact that all portions thereof are cast of equal thickness, whereby the tendency above alluded to of the thicker parts to draw away from the thinner parts is entirely eliminated. To this end the equalizer-bar herein shown is formed of cast-steel of I-beam section throughout, the flanges being everywhere made of the same thickness of metal as the web portions and no substantial variations in the pedestal, to cooperate'with a corresponderally-extending lugs d,

ing number of springs E. The seat portions B of the pedestals have cone-shaped topsor caps 12, serving to unite the seat portions with the two longitudinal bearing-plates Z), formed integral with the tops of the pedestals and constituting the guides and bearings for the ends of the Wheel-piece O. Projections in the form of annular flanges b depend from the under face of the seats B, forming a means for preventing lateral displacement of the upper ends of the springs from their seats, it being noted that the caps b and the projections 12 are cast hollow and of the same thickness of metal as the body of the equalizer-bar. The end portions of the equalizer-bar beyond the pedestals B are formed with suitable seats to receive the ends of the end sills F, the latter preferably being made of angleiron and secured in place by vertical boltsf and one or more horizontal bolts f.

Referring now to the detail construction of the journal box, which is designated as a whole by D, it may be said that the novel fea ture of my invention, so far as the latter re lates to the journal-box, resides in the provision of a series (here shown as two) of latdisposed in a common horizontal plane on each side of the box and serving as seats for the lower ends of the equalizer-springs E. The upper face of each lug d is preferably provided with a central upstanding conical projection d, designed to enter the lower end of the coil and having a function similar to that already attributed to the depending projections b of the pedestals. Between the lugs d on each side of the journal-box passes the proximate side member of the pedestal with a slight clearance, thereby locking the journal-box against undue endwise movement or displacement relatively to and transversely of the pedestal. This feature of construction constitutes a simple and effective means for maintaining the vertical disposition of the springs E.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I provide between each pedestal and its cooperating journal-box a group of four springs, two on each side of the pedestal and two on each side of the journal-box. It will further be observed that by this arrangement the equalizer-bars do not rest upon the tops of the journal-box either directly or through a spring connection, as heretofore, but the connection between the equalizer-bar and the journal is through the lower or base portion of the journal-box, the latter thus constituting a saddle in which the springs ride. This arrangement provides a very effective distribution of the shock and jar for two principal reasons, the first being that the blow transmitted by the impact of the wheel on the rail must pass to the car-body through a roundabout path from the top of the journalbox to the base thereof, thence through four springs, thence obliquely through the top of the pedestal to its pivotal point with the wheel-piece O, and from the latter to the king-bolt of the truck. I have found in actual practice that the jar or shock is practically entirely absorbed in the construction and arrangement described and does not reach the car-body at all. This result I believe to be due largely to thefact that by my arrangement and disposition of the springs I provide a spring-base of extended area and avoid transmission of the shockin a single vertical line either directlyor through aspring from the journal-box to the wheel-piece. The second principal reason for the effective distribution of the shock or jar and its absorption in the elements of the truck is found in the fact that the employment of four springs at each journal instead of but one or two, as hitherto, enables each spring to be made correspondingly lighter, thereby increasing the shock-absorbing capacity and decreasing the shock-transmitting quality of each spring.

The wheel'piece O is a plain soft-steel bar of uniform lateral dimensions throughout and is bolted at its opposite ends directly in the tops of the pedestals between the horizontal guides b by means of transverse bolts 0. This mode of connecting the equalizer- ICC bar and the wheel-piece makes the former a part of the frame of thetruck, but does not change its character or mode of operation as a vertical equalizer in any way.

In order to strengthen and render more rigid the pedestals B, as well as to lock the journal-boxes thereon, the lower ends of the side members of the pedestals are connected by short metal straps G, as shown.

I have found by severe practicaltest of the truck constituted as herein shown and described that the shocks and jars resulting from its operation over a rough track are entirely absorbed in the truck, while the annoyance caused by breakage of the equalizer-bar at some weak or defective point in the casting is entirely eliminated. So far as I am aware, my invention presents a radically novel feature in the formation of a cast-steel equalizerbar, all the parts of which are cast in uniform thickness throughout, and the employment of the four springs at each journal, two on either side of the longitudinal vertical plane of the equalizer-bar and disposed relatively to the pedestal and the journal-box, as shown and described. To these two features of construction chiefly I attribute the advantages and beneficial results above referred to, and hence I do not limit myself to the exact form or proportions of parts or their precise relative locations and connections, so long as the main and distinguishing features of my invention in these respects are preserved, and while I prefer to employ a nest of four springs at each journal-bearing, as shown, it will be obvious that the precise number of springs employed is not of the essence of my invention, the distinguishing characteristic of my invention in this regard being the arrangement of a series of springs so disposed as to lie in vertical planes parallel with and on each side of the vertical plane of the equalizer-bar and at the same time being in vertical planes parallel with and on each side of the longitudinal vertical plane of the canaxle.

I claim as my invention- 1. An equalizer-bar for car-trucks made of cast-steel, and comprising the following elements: a straight horizontal intermediate body portion, a pair of pedestals at the opposite ends thereof, respectively, a pair of parallel longitudinal bearing-plates on top of each pedestal, and a series of cone-shaped hollow tops or caps serving to unite said bearing-plates laterally with the tops of the pedestals, all of said parts being cast integral and of uniform thickness throughout, substantially as described.

2. An equalizer-barfor car-trncks made of cast-steel, and comprising the following elements: a straight horizontal intermediate body portion of I-loeam section throughout, a pair of pedestals at the opposite ends thereof, respectively, a pair of parallel longitudinal bearing-plates on top of each pedestal, and a series of cone-shaped hollow tops or caps serving to unite said bearing-plates laterally with the topsof the pedestals, said tops or caps.

having'depending annular flanges adapted to seat in the upper ends of the springs, all of said parts being cast integral and of uniform thickness throughout, substantially as described.

3. In a car-truck, the combination with a journal-box having laterally-extending lugs on either side of the base portion thereof and forming seats for springs, of a pedestal straddling the same and having corresponding seats for the springs in its upper portion, and springs vertically seated between and engaging the seats of the journal-box and of the pedestal, respectively, substantially as described.

4. The combination with the equalizer-bar having pedestals castintegral therewith,each pedestal having seats for the equalizersprings on each side of the top portion thereof,

of journal-boxes lying within the pedestals, each journal-box having horizontally-extending integral lugs on either side of the base portion thereof and forming seats for the springs, and vertically-arranged springs disposed between and at their opposite ends engagingthe aforesaid seats of the pedestal and journal-box gespectively, substantially as described.

5. In a car-truck, the combination with an equalizer-bar having a horizontal intermediate portion, and a pedestal rising integrally therefrom at each end thereof, each pedestal having a pair of seats for the upper ends of the equalizer-springs on each side of the central vertical longitudinal plane thereof, the seats of each pair being disposed on opposite sides of the central vertical transverse plane of the pedestal, of a jo urnal-box slidably engaging each pedestal, said journal-bor; having a pair of laterally-extending lugs on each side thereof, said lugs forming seats for the lower ends of the equalizer-springs, andthe lugs of each pair being disposed in vertical alinenient with the corresponding seats of the equalizer-bar thereabove; and permittting the vertical play of the side members of the pedestal therebetween,springs interposed between the seats of the pedestal and of the journal respectively, and a soft-steel wheelpiece rigidly connecting the tops of the pedestals, substantially as described. V

. EDMUND A. CURTIS. In presence of l SAMUEL N. POND, FREDERICK O. Goonwm. 

